Orchestre Afizam - "Kenga". A walking man came across a small box. Inside the box was a bird. It circled him, cheering, and flew away. The man continued walking. He came to another box. Inside this box was a cricket. It cricked, hopped, and disappeared into the grass. The man walked on. He found another box. Inside this box was a beautiful song. The man heard the song and said to himself: One day I will play this song on my electric guitar, in a solo, softly. The song disappeared into the sky.

Five years later, the man's lover gave him a box. He opened it. A bird flew out, cheering, and flew away. A cricked hopped out, cricking, and disappeared into the grass. The man waited. "Is there no song?" he asked the woman. "Songs are for lonelies," she said. One year later, she broke his heart.

[this is a song from the Democratic Republic of Congo. it comes to me, and i am grateful, via the blog Goldkicks, which is regularly and unexpectedly exceptional.]

Neil Young - "Transformer Man". When Dr Anderson stepped out of the Experimental Chamber, Vida was immediately at his side. "Oh Michael," she said, "I'm so relieved." He took a deep breath. He said: "Thank God, everything seems back to normal." The first procedure had gone terribly wrong, as Dr Anderson was shrunk to 20% his normal size. But now he was back, standing on the Institute's linoleum floor, sipping water from a paper cone. "I love you," she said, for the first time. He reached for her, his assistant of four years. "I love you too."

It wasn't until later in the day that a scan revealed the condition of Dr Anderson's heart. It had not been affected by the expansion ray. He did not know why. Veda and Dr Anderson looked at the readout. "Your heart is still at 20%," she said. "Yes," he replied. She was so still beside him. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Veda! It doesn't matter!" [buy]

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Elsewhere:

A lovely video of My People Sleeping's Ruby Kato Attwood, singing a love-song called "Sparrow".

Listen to "All Around", a great new song by Twin Sister, as part of Shark Attack Records' charity comp.

& thanks to all those who have left such lovely comments lately. It means a lot to Dan and I to hear from you.